The children’s song says, “Read your Bible. Pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow.” Daily prayer and Bible reading are two of the foundations for spiritual growth.
“Read Your Bible”
Get into God’s Word daily. You don’t have to dedicate every waking moment to Bible reading, but you should spend time in God’s Word each day. Find a Bible reading plan that you can stick to. Many people read three chapters a day in their Bible to help them read completely through in one year. Instead of reading for a certain number of chapters each day you can choose to read for a set amount of time.
The last two years I have taken the number of pages and my Bible and divide it by the number 300. For me that works out to just over five pages a day. With that schedule I can read the Bible in a little over 10 months which gives me a few extra days to linger on certain passages or get distracted in studying a topic if I want.
“Pray Every Day”
While reading the Bible is God’s way of communicating with us, prayer is our way of talking to Him. You should have a prayer list that you pray through. A few suggested items for daily prayer are your spouse, kids, extended family members and missionary families you know. You can also pray as God brings needs and blessings to your mind. Certainly you can pray at any time or place; but having a dedicated prayer time each day will help you stay connected with the Lord.
Attend Church
Fellowshipping with other Christians is one of the things Jesus taught us while he was on the earth. Those who refuse to congregate with other believers are often those who have trouble avoiding temptation in their lives.
God has given His blessing on the organization of the church. It is the authority which God has established in the life of a believer. The church does not exist to tell an individual Christian what he can and cannot do, rather it was founded by Jesus to give Christians a place where they can serve in the body of Christ and get the spiritual help they need.
Baptism
Obedience is a key ingredient to spiritual growth. The first step of obedience after salvation that the Bible teaches is baptism (Matthew 28:19, 20). This announces to others that you have been saved. Baptism does not save the believer, but spiritual growth will be limited if the believer refuses to follow the Lord in baptism.
Baptism is a public identification that the person trusts in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for their salvation. Jesus was baptized as an example for us (Matthew 3:13-17).
Serve Others
Finding a way to be involved in the lives of others is a sure way to grow spiritually. When other people are asking you questions about the Bible you will become more studious of God’s Word.
Witness
You should be active in sharing your Christian testimony with others. In Romans 1:16 Paul states that he is not ashamed of the Gospel. As a child of God you have been given the gift of salvation through the Gospel. This is a gift that is available to others as well, but they need someone to tell them about the love and forgiveness God offers. You can do this by being a witness to them.
Give
As a Christian who is involved in a local church, there are plenty of opportunities to give to the needs of the church and the needs of others. Besides the fact that the Bible teaches us that everything belongs to God, it teaches the principle of the tithe. There are differing opinions on tithing and whether it is necessary still today; however, whatever you believe about the teaching of tithing, the Bible clearly shows that we should support the work of the ministry (1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 9:7), and particularly those who teach us God’s Word (1 Timothy 5:17).
I hope these seven spiritual growth tips have been a help. These are just the basics. Any time God teaches you something from His Word you can continue to grow only as you obey.